ATSC issues Recommended Practice on Haptics for ATSC 3.0

Thursday, February 25th, 2021
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Immersion Announces New Recommended Practice for Broadcasting Haptics

  • The ATSC Issues Recommended Practice on Haptics for ATSC 3.0 enabling haptic content to reach viewers on mobile devices

SAN FRANCISCO — Immersion Corporation (NASDAQ: IMMR), the leading developer and provider of technologies for haptics, today announced that the Advanced Television System Committee, Inc. (ATSC) has published Immersion’s proposal as a Recommended Practice on Haptics for ATSC 3.0. The Recommended Practice enables the addition of haptics in ATSC 3.0 broadcast and broadband content streams on mobile devices capable of haptic feedback.

This latest development provides a recommended approach for content distributors to add haptic playback capability to mobile apps and expand the distribution of haptic-enhanced content to viewers. The new feature will enable interactive content such as live sports, advertising, and gaming streamed on mobile devices to be enhanced with haptics.

“As NextGen TV powered by ATSC 3.0 is deployed commercially, ATSC is excited to remain at the forefront of ongoing technical developments in media and entertainment,” said Madeleine Noland, President of the ATSC. “ATSC 3.0 is a flexible, evolvable platform. We want to enable the richest experiences possible, and we are pleased to now include haptics among the impressive list of NextGen TV features, which provides an additional layer of entertainment and sensory immersion that goes beyond traditional viewing.”

“Our goal is to enable haptic content to reach as many people as possible,” said Dr. Yeshwant Muthusamy, Senior Director of Standards at Immersion. “By enabling a fully documented approach to broadcasting haptics as a part of ATSC 3.0, we’re bringing haptic-enabled content to consumers sooner rather than later. Our next step is to work with broadcasters to help them integrate the Recommended Practice on Haptics for ATSC 3.0 and enable mobile devices to take advantage of the content stream.”

In addition to significantly improving the TV viewing experience with higher audio and video quality, the ATSC 3.0 standard provides improved compression efficiency, robust transmission for reception on both fixed and mobile devices, and more accessibility, personalization, and interactivity. Broadcasters anticipate launching ATSC 3.0 to the first 62 markets over the next 12 months, which will collectively reach more than 75 percent of viewers in the U.S.